One woman more responsible than most for this event being staged is “Battling” Barbara Buttrick. She was the first female boxing world champion and was invited to the test event to be photographed for a magazine, having participated in hugely popular exhibition fights half a century ago.
One of Buttrick’s fights even appeared on television in 1954 but since founding the Women’s International Boxing Federation (WIBF) she has worked to see women’s boxing admitted as an Olympic sport.
After meeting Britain’s hopefuls for gold at London 2012, Natasha Jonas and Savannah Marshall, who both won gold at the test event, external, Buttrick alluded to why she wants the chance to hang a medal around the neck of a winner.
“It’s very satisfying to see how the sport has developed and to see women accepted on the same level as men. I had such a struggle with public opinion in my day but I just ignored it and carried on,” she said.
Elsewhere, in a nation that has only won one individual gold medal at the Olympics, a mother of two represents the best hope of Olympic success next year.
MC Mary Kom, external is a five-time world champion from the Indian state of Manipur. She said: “We wore skirts at the last world championships and it’s comfortable.”
And despite her quarter-final loss at the Excel, she is upbeat about her prospects.
“Today is not my lucky day, before the bout I had a minor ankle injury,” she says. “The world championships are the qualifiers for the Olympics so that is the main tournament and I will do my best for my country there.”
Whether Mary Kom wins gold at London 2012 or not, she and her fellow female pugilists have already secured a victory of sorts by being given an equal footing on the Olympic stage.